Extended chords (9th, 11th, 13th) on bass

[lermgalieu]

Oh please can we get another "are double stops chords?" thread going?

Mea culpa, I'm sorry.

 

[Leonid Nidis]

Not exactly on topic but I went to a Manowar concert few days ago and the bass player would hit a chord with full distrotion and play with his hair while it rings, like 30% of the show so i learned that chords are a valid option

 

[gregouille23]

Fascinating stuff, thanks folks for the great replies! Now up to me to work on this and see where that takes me. Yesterday I was playing around with chords on bass by playing all chords of the C major scale and their inversion(s) whenever possible. It's quite fun and also a great musical exercise. Will continue doing so, trying out progressions, adding extended and sus chords. Will be a fun journey

Since we mentioned double stops... If I may derail my own thread. I sometimes play around with double stops, again just for the fun of it. I can come up with some kind of progression which sound good which is already something But I struggle with the theoretical concepts behind it. If I play a succession of intervals harmonically like a minor 3rd, major 3rd, perfect 4th or 5th, diminished 5th... while keeping the same root, my ear does not get the tonality from the root but instead what I hear is rather the succession of the higher pitches (i.e. b3, 3, 4, 5...) from the intervals. So basically, I don't feel the tonality from the root at all. Or maybe I do feel it unconsciously but I don't hear it clearly at least. Which always brings me to wonder how double stops should be better used...

 

[Ekulati]

I'm hoping this kind of thing is for some kind of creative solo, maybe duo kind of context where you're really tying to push the envelope of artistic possibilities on the bass, and not for regular bass playing with a band.

 

[gregouille23]

I'm hoping this kind of thing is for some kind of creative solo, maybe duo kind of context where you're really tying to push the envelope of artistic possibilities on the bass, and not for regular bass playing with a band.

For sure. For now I am just playing around with this but maybe in the future I will incorporate it into some project or something like that. But definitely not in my pop/rock cover band

 

[sonojono]

I've checked your suggested web-site.
Here is my opinion about one of them.
Bass Scales, Chords & Arpeggios Book By Guitar Command
Bass Guitar Scales Chords And Arpeggios is a printable PDF book for bass guitarists. It contains a huge range of movable scale, chord and arpeggio fingerboard diagrams – allowing you to play in any key.

Does the author realize how it sounds in REAL LIFE?
The author indicates playing Em as - Open E, B on the A string, E on the D string, and Open G.
Or playing (barre) Fm on the first fret???

It's a BASS GUITAR!

View attachment 3338544

This is why books like this turn me off and never really fulfill my curiosity of bass chords.. looking at that diagram just kills me..

 

[matthewbrown]

At the moment I have no goal to ever perform chords on bass on a gig, at least not using bass as the primary melodic instrument. For now, all I am after is to have fun at home, apply music theory and maybe later use some progression in compositions.

I'd suggest working extended arpeggios into your practice routine, if you haven't yet, as well as paired triads.

 

[SteveCS]

... But I struggle with the theoretical concepts behind it. If I play a succession of intervals harmonically like a minor 3rd, major 3rd, perfect 4th or 5th, diminished 5th... while keeping the same root, my ear does not get the tonality from the root but instead what I hear is rather the succession of the higher pitches (i.e. b3, 3, 4, 5...) from the intervals. ...

That's because in isolation what you are producing with that sequence is a kind of musical 'nonsense'. You need to look at what is going on in terms of functional or tonal harmony. The first thing is to understand intervals and their inversions, then chords and their inversions and how these relate to the Key. What you will discover is that in a chord the lowest note is not always the root and that a given two-note interval (dyad) can imply many 'chords'...

So when you play, let's say, G and Bb together, you are implying a G Minor chord, but equally it could be part of Eb Major. Go to B and it could be G Major or Em. When you change the B to C (keep the G), you are strongly suggesting a C chord - major or minor. When you go to Db you are implying something more akin to Eb7 or Gdim. The D gives you Gm or G (by adding a Bb or B), but might also be Em7 or Eb^7. The 6ths are more tricky and could suggest a lot of things - the Eb could imply Cm or Eb Major, and the E could be Em or C Major. The F makes a strong inference of G7 or possibly even Csus4. I'll leave the F# to your deliberation...
In the following, each bar contains two or three options using the intervals you describe, starting on G>Bb up to G>F. Note that the chords are not all complete - there may be 5ths or 3rds missing. There are of course many more options once you start adding in higher extensions...

 

[Slevage]

Hello,

I lately started to play more chords on bass, mostly for fun and for practicing melody, voice leading and chord progressions. But I have been limiting myself to basic patterns i.e. up to 7th chords. In order to expand further, I was wondering how you would play extended chords on bass. When playing a 7th chord I basically removed the 5th as it does not bring much color to the chord. So I assume extended chords would also work in a similar way. I play on a 4 strings so my range may be limited, I understand that. But are there ways to play such extended chords anyway?

Cheers,

All my basses (except a vintage P)are 5 stringers with
a high C.
One advantage with this setup is playing the upper tensions of complex chords.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

play with his hair while it rings, like 30% of the show

What should the "lacking hair on the head" people (like me) do?

 

[Whousedtoplay]

playing the upper tensions of complex chords.

Do you play them as barre? Like the guitar player does.
Do you always play the ROOT of any chord voicing/s?

 

[Slevage]

Not always bar. I almost never play all 5 strings at once.

Usually I play the root,, sometimes by hammering a lower string lower on the neck using my thumb on my plucking hand ( right hand).

 

[bfields]

All my basses (except a vintage P)are 5 stringers with
a high C.

Any pointers? I assume any 5-string bass will do as a starting point, they'll just need new strings and a setup, is that right? I did a quick search on Sweetwater and only found one set that looked like it had about the right gauges: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...nd-5-string-bass-strings-028-100-light-high-c Or is it simpler to look for 6-string sets and just plan to toss the B string?

Sorry for the digression, I've only played 4-strings but just started playing with a group where a 5-string tuned E-to-C might be fun to try, so I'm ignorant but curious....

 

[Mushroo]

You should be asking why has the composer indicated an extended chord? What musical purpose does that 9th, 11th, or 13th serve? Is it a note in the melody? Does it create interesting voice leading opportunities in the context of the chords that come before or after? It is an example of an established compositional technique such as suspension, pedal point, or appoggiatura? Are the extended chords deployed at strategic moments in the song, to create a progression of consonance and dissonance, tension and release?

 

[Slevage]

You can get a 6 and use that too ( I used to but prefer a 5 because I ply 5 string EUB and didn't want to negotiate 6 strings with a bow.

Learning theory and chord structure is important. I'm still working on that (for 47 years).
Good luck— have fun.

 

[Slevage]

You can get a 6 and use that too ( I used to but prefer a 5 because I ply 5 string EUB and didn't want to negotiate 6 strings with a bow.

Learning theory and chord structure is important. I'm still working on that (for 47 years).
Good luck— have fun.

 

[matthewbrown]

All my basses (except a vintage P)are 5 stringers with
a high C.
One advantage with this setup is playing the upper tensions of complex chords.

Another is you can steal stuff from Steve Swallow.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

I understand where 9-11-13 are, however I never go there. In the World I play in up to the 8 is as high as I ever go. I believe our job is to call attention to the root and that chord's tones. Up to the 8 does it for me. The solo instruments are taken care of the high stuff I stay low.

Offered for what it is worth.

 

[Tekkers]

Try tapping. I guess technically it results in broken chords but you can hit a lot of chord tones. Due to the ergonomics of a bass it can sometimes be much easier to drill out patterns with wildly extended chords in them, plus it sounds and looks cool.

It's not as hard a people seem to think either.